First, a disclaimer: I am not fantastic at golf. As a matter of fact, I am an expert and decapitating worms and cutting grass with golf balls.. This, I believe, makes me uniquely qualified to judge the performance of a golf club, particularly the Nike VR_S and the Adams Golf Speedline Fast 12 drivers. If one or both of the club can make me hit straight and long consistently, it is certainly a quality piece of golf engineering. I am doing this review for everyone who likes golf while golf doesn’t necessarily like them.

Nike VR_S

THE CLUBS:Nike VR_S Driver

Loft: 9.5 Degree Standard

Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki K

Flex: Stiff

Grip: Nike Tour Velvet

Adams Golf Speedline Fast 12

Adams Golf Speedline Fast 12

Loft: 9.5 Degree Standard

Shaft: Grafalloy ProLaunch Blue

Flex: Stiff

Grip: Adams Tour Elite Plus

THE TEST:I hit a small bucket of balls at the driving range with each club and noted my observations.

THE RESULTS:

Nike VR_S Driver:Let’s begin with the distance. When I connect with my old driver (Adams Golf Speedline Fast 10) I drive around 200 yards. With the VR_S, I was adding at least another twenty to twenty-five yards. That’s when I connect. And, with the VR_S, I connect a lot more. So, by connecting more, I get to hear the sound of the club striking the ball. While it’s not as bad as past Nike drivers, it sounds a bit dead.

Nike VR_S

The swing is smooth and straight. I don’t have a particularly fast swing. I’m trying to get a decent form throughout, and whenever I speed up, I ruin it. This club has a long enough shaft (albeit a bit light relative to the head) and heavy enough head that it gets enough head speed for a decent hit.

This is a very forgiving club and masks my not-so-perfect hits well. I tended to have greater consistency. Much to my surprise, I was actually hitting what I was aiming for. The VR_S allows for shots with a good deal of accuracy, especially with the adjustable STR8-Fit adjustable face angle.

The VR_S is a good looking club. I don’t know how effective the aerodynamic grooves are, but they certainly look cool. Looking down at the club, the shape is good but the view is a bit dull. The metallic black paint is nice enough, but I can’t help but think it’s missing a bit of detail. Overall, apart from the dead sound and dull top of the club, this is a great driver, and it makes me look like a way better golfer than I am.

Adams Golf Speedline Fast 12

Adams Golf Speedline Fast 12 Driver:Before I even hit it, I decided I like this club. It looks good. The dark and light gray color scheme are appealing, and the shape looks like a golf club. The shaft is an odd texture, but that’s not a big deal.

So now let’s hit it. I have an Adams Golf Speedline Fast 10 so I’m used to Adams’ Airfoil and aerodynamic shape. This club feels a bit like my Fast 10 but more refined. Therefore, it’s no real surprise that on my first swing I connect with the ball and it goes about ten to fifteen yards further than with my Fast 10. As far as consistency is concerned, I’m hitting solidly about two-thirds of the time, which is a good improvement from the Fast 10.

Adams Golf Speedline Fast 12

The swing is smooth, but due to the focus on aerodynamics, an off-angle swing is hard to correct. Like the VR_S, a lot of head speed is generated on the swing. On connection, the sound is a satisfying crack. The accuracy of the Fast 12 is about the same as the VR_S; that is to say, good. I could get used to hitting what I’m aiming for. All in all, I like this club, as well. It looks good and hits well if you start out with a straight swing.CONCLUSION:Both the Nike VR_S and the Adams Golf Speedline Fast 12 are good drivers and huge improvements over their predecessors. At $359 for the Nike and $299 for the Adams, these drivers aren’t a bad value as well. But, I give the edge to the Nike VR_S.